$50 Gift Card for Buyers’ Agents “If your Buyers visit my open house and mention your name, I’ll give you a $50 gift card to your favorite restaurant.” –email from listing agent promoting a Thursday night Summer open house. OK, so I don’t see it happening for more modestly-priced homes — say, those listed under...Read More
Retail vs. Wholesale Open Houses One of the best, early omens for a new listing is when agents leaving the Broker Open casually toss off compliments like “nice listing,” “good job!,” or simply “congratulations.” What’s another? When several newer, less experienced agents contact you, asking if they can hold a weekend open house at your...Read More
Agent to Buyer: “Stop By That New Listing on Broker Tour Tomorrow” When an agent looks at a home without their client in tow, it’s known as a “Preview.” See, “Proper (and Improper) Uses of Realtor Previews.” That’s in contrast to a “showing,” which is when the agent and client view a home together. So, what...Read More
Law of Diminishing Returns Show me a “For Sale” home that’s open Sunday after Sunday, rain or shine, and I’ll show you a house where: a) the home is likely overpriced and going nowhere in the market; b) a frustrated Realtor is trying to placate an impatient owner; or most likely c) both “a.” and...Read More
Broker Open Pitch: “Drawing for Two $25 Gas Cards” With the hosting agent promising two gas $25 cards, and only five agents (including myself) through so far, I was very much liking my chances at the Broker Open near Cedar Lake yesterday. Then, two (very) full cars of City Lakes agents pulled up just as...Read More
Define, “Extreme Cold” There’s a simple reason you seldom see Realtor open houses in Minnesota in January cancelled due to cold: there’s no guaranty it will be warmer a week later. Case in point: exactly one week ago, when my client and I were wavering due to local temps in the single digits. We went...Read More
